The Most Threatened Habitats named in the report
Coastal Lagoons
Lagoons support plants such as tasselweed as well as
sand shrimps and snails. Main threats include drainage for
agriculture and water pollution from agricultural sources as well
as domestic effluent due to increasing urbanisation.
Saltmarsh
Characterised by perennial glasswort, this habitat
is very rare in Ireland and protected under the Flora Protection
Order. There are only five saltmarsh sites, all on the southeast
coast, and some have been damaged by "off-road vehicles" and
horse-riding.
White dunes
White dunes tend to be dominated by marram grass.
Threats include the depletion of blown sand due to removal of beach
materials, coastal protection works and sand compaction caused by
motor vehicles on the beach as well as trampling by visitor
pressure.
Grey dunes
Also known as fixed dunes, these are more
stabilised. Their vegetation includes sand sedge, red fescue,
birdsfoot trefoil and orchids. Many sites have been affected by
such developments as sports pitches, golf courses, caravan parks,
housing, roadways and airstrips.
Decalcified Dunes
Found on the landward edge of dune systems and
characterised by crowberry and gorse, this very rare heath-like
habitat is restricted to the northwest coast. Main pressures are
agricultural improvement, overgrazing by cattle and development of
sand quarries.
Humid Dune Slacks
These wet or moist areas between dune ridges support
rushes, sedges and herbs such as marsh pennywort. They are under
threat from a range of impacts including overgrazing, water
abstraction and drainage, golf course developments, forestry and
coastal protection.
Machair
A highly complex dune habitat globally restricted to
the northwest coasts of Ireland and Scotland — confined here
to the coastal zone between Galway and Donegal.
Main threats include fencing of commonage, overgrazing, recreation, housing and sand extraction.
Oligotrophic Lakes
Shallow lakes with low levels of nutrients, these
occur in both lowland and upland locations. The principal threats
include overgrazing and excessive use of fertilisers,
afforestation, sewage effluent from housing in rural areas and the
introduction of invasive alien species.
Hard Water Lakes
Hard water lakes tend to be shallow, with the bottom
covered in algae. Rapid loss in water quality associated with
phosphorous enrichment has been documented for Lough Sheelin and
Lough Ennell. Continued threats come from intensive agriculture and
urban development.
Wet Heath
Widespread in uplands and in the west, its
vegetation is characterised by purple heather and sphagnum mosses.
Land reclamation, burning and afforestation have caused extensive
losses while sites have been degraded by overstocking of sheep,
especially in the west.
Lowland Hay Meadows
The best remaining examples are the Shannon callows,
where land floods in winter. But agricultural intensification,
drainage and, more recently, abandonment of pastoral systems all
lead to the loss of some typical flora and to a reduction in the
area of the habitat.
Raised Bog
Active raised bogs are sustained mainly by rainwater
with colourful vegetation. Concentrated in the midlands and
midwest, they are now extremely rare, having decreased by over 35
per cent in the last 10 years due to peat cutting, drainage,
forestry and burning.
Blanket Bog
Blanket bog occurs mainly on lowlands and uplands on
Ireland's Atlantic coast. Extensive areas have been removed or
highly modified by reclamation, peat extraction, afforestation but
also by erosion and even landslides triggered by human
activity.
Fens
These may be found in valleys, floodplains and wet
meadows. Like most peatland types in Ireland, fens have experienced
a decline in quality, mostly as a result of activities such as peat
mining, draining for cropland, infilling, fertiliser pollution and
eutrophication.
Oak Woods
Sessile oak woodlands occur on acidic soils mostly
in upland areas throughout the country but especially in Wicklow
and west Cork/south Kerry. Invasive alien species, notably
rhododendron, are a threat to many stands of ancient oaks as is
"sub-optimal grazing".